Kent wrote:
>'IMHO, the works of Gardner and Cain are primarily
remembered because of TV
>and the movies, respectively. I would go as far to
say as most non-mystery
>buffs know Perry Mason, "Double Indemnity" and
"Postman" but cannot name
>their creators. Chandler is a different proposition.
He is remembered
>because of his written words, not because the film
version of the "The Big
>Sleep" and forgettable versions of his other novels.
The "The Big Sleep" is
>remembered because of Bogart and Bacall.
>
>I think this is what the reviewer could have
meant.
That makes sense. And, in fact, the success of the film
version of THE BIG SLEEP has less to do with Chandler than
with the play between Bogie and Bacall, Hawks' direction, and
the script by Leigh Brackett, Faulkner and the other
guy.
At least with THE MALTESE FALCON, chances are, if you loved
the movie, you'll love the book. I don't think that's
necessarily the case for THE BIG SLEEP. MURDER, MY SWEET and
FAREWELL, MY LOVELY are far more representative of Chandler,
I think, but they hardly packed the commercial wallop of TBS.
Then again, what do we care about anyone who doesn't like
Chandler in book form?
And Dave's point about those books not being in print in
Australia is intriguing. Gardner I could understand being
hard to find, or even out of print, but Cain? Yikes! Are the
bookstores there filled mostly with Australian and British
editions?
(Just a few notes...despite their assurances, being listed by
Amazon doesn't necessarily mean a book is actually available.
And my guess is the Gardner books that are in print are all
Perry Masons, and are marketed as such....a case of the
character being better known than the author. And that
particular character is probably best known because of the TV
shows, not the books.)
--
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.thrillingdetective.com
Now online: The 3rd Annual Cheap Thrill Awards. Fiction by Laura Lippman, Scott Wolven and Anthony Rain. And Tim Broderick's ODD JOBS. -- # To unsubscribe from the regular list, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to # majordomo@icomm.ca. This will not work for the digest version. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
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